Method of making a tape splice



Dec. 8-, .1970 c. s THOMPSON METHOD OF MAKING A TAPE SPLICE v 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Apg. 2, 1968 Facts R W W m ATTORNEYS.

1970f 'c. s. THQMPSON I 5 3 METHOD OF MAKING A TAPE SPLIIICIF'} FiiadAug. 2, 1968 2. Sheets-Shea? 2 Heal Flea ND F FIGJI INVENTOR. CHARLESS.THOMPS ON FIG.I2

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 8, 1970 3,546,330 METHOD OF MAKING A TAPE SPLICE CharlesS. Thompson, Vincentown, Burlington, N.J., as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Gulf Western Industrial ProductsCompany, Grand Rapids, Mich., a

corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 749,793 Int. Cl.B29d 29/00; B32b 31/08 US. Cl. 264-258 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A method for splicing together two sections of tape whereinthe weft strands are removed from each tape in an area of the tapespaced from the tape end. The tapes are bent backwards to provide loopsin the weft-free areas, and the loops of the respective tapes are thenbrought together into intermeshing relationship. A pin or similar memberis provided extending through the loops to hold the loops in intermeshedrelationship, and to secure one tape to the other.

The present invention relates to the problem of splicing tape ends, andmore particularly to a method for connecting the ends of tapes of thewoven type, which have longitudinally extending warp strands andlaterally extending weft strands interwoven therewith.

The present invention is particularly applicable for use with wovenbands or tapes utilized with arresting gear for aircraft, and will bedescribed with particular reference thereto. Other uses for theinvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the past, the joining or splicing of sections of tape has been adifficult problem, usually solved by sewing a splice either of the laptype or the butt type. In the lap splice, the sections of the tape aresimply overlapped, and sewn together. In the butt splice, the sectionsof the tape are butted together, and a third section of tape isoverlapped with the butted sections and sewn thereto.

These methods require the availability of a sewing machine, a source ofpower, and a suitable location, all of which are not always readilyavailable in areas where aircraft arresting gear may be used.

In other instances, tape joints or splices have been made with dualconnection devices, which, however, may be cumbersome and may requiremaintenance and periodic inspection.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape splice, ormethod for splicing or joining tape, which can be readily effected inalmost any location, and which simply requires easily carried and storedhand tools, and which further avoids the need for such equipment as asewing machine, or the need for an external power source.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a strong, high qualityjoint or splice between woven tape ends.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tape joint or splicewhich is light in weight, which is neither bulky nor cumbersome, andwhich is of superior wearresistance.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method forsplicing together woven tape sections, the tape section comprisinglongitudinally extending warp strands and laterally extending weftstrands interwoven therewith. The weft strands are removed from portionsor areas of the tape sections, which portions or areas are spaced fromthe tape ends. The tape sections are then bent backwards to form endloops in the weft-free portions thereof. The tape sections are broughttogether so that the loops of one of the sections intermesh with theloops of the other section. A pin or similar means is provided extendingthrough the intermeshed loops to hold the loops in intermeshedrelationship and to secure or splice one loop to the other.

The invention will become apparent upon consideration of the followingspecification, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichFIG. 1 is a top view of a woven tape illustrating the structure thereof;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the tape of FIG. 1 illustrating weft strandsremoved from a portion or area thereof;

FIGS 3-6 illustrate a preferred method for forming looped ends in theweft-free area or portion of a tape;

FIG. 7 shows the positioning of two tape sections to be spliced togetherprior to splicing;

FIG. 8 shows the tape sections of FIG. 7 in intermeshed relationship;

FIG. 9 illustrates a splice between two tape sections in accordance withan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a splice between two tape sections in accordancewith a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a splice between two tape sections in accordancewith a still further embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a pin in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a woven band, indicatedgenerally by the numeral 12, formed of a multitude of longitudinallyextending warp strands 14 interwoven with a multitude of laterallyextending weft strands 16. It will be understood that it is difficult toaccurately show the numbers of warp and weft strands in the drawingssince the woven band or tape normally used in an arresting gear assemblyis on the order of twelve to fourteen inches in width and up to an inchin thickness. The warp and weft strands are each formed of a largenumber of nylon filaments of a size and a magnitude of a human hairbundled together to form the strands. The strands or bundles offilaments are roughly the thickness of picture wire. Thus, the drawingis illustrative only.

For preparing a woven tape for splicing with another tape, or connectionwith another tape, the weft strands 16 are removed from an area 18 ofthe tape, across the full width of the tape, and for several inchesalong the tape. The weft-free area is spaced from the end 20 of the tapeby several inches, lying between the major portion or body 22 of thetape and the end 20. The flexibility of the tape in the weft-free area18 permits the tape to be easily bent into a loop in this area, asillustrated at 24 in FIG. 3, so that the end 20 of the tape underlies oroverlies the major portion or body 22 thereof.

Referring to FIG. 4, individual loops, or bundles of loops or strands,are twisted about to form a point of twist or intersection 26 betweenthe strand loops 24 and the tape overlapping portions, close to theoverlapping portions and at the base of the loops. The loops or bundlesare further twisted another 180, as shown in FIG. 5, to form a secondpoint of twist or intersection 28 spaced from said first point of twistand now encompassed by two loops 24a and 24b, the loop 2412 being thefurthest spaced from the overlapping portions of the tape, and the loop24a being between the two points of twist 26 and 28. The looped strandsare then bent at the second point of twist or intersection 28 so thatthe two loops 24a and 24b overlap each other and define a double loop 30and a single opening 240.

For the purpose of joining or splicing two tape ends, the tapes 12 and12' are aligned and the double looped strands of each tape are orientedso that the openings defined thereby are in lateral alignment, as shownin FIG. 7. The above steps are undertaken for both tape ends, and asshown in 'FIG. 8, the tapes are brought together so that the weft-freelooped strands of one of the tapes to be spliced intermesh with theweft-free looped strands.

of the other tape. The intermeshing is effected so that the openingsdefined by the looped ends of both of the tapes are in alignment.

With the looped ends as so aligned, the splice or joint is completed bypositioning a pin or similar means 32 laterally through the loopopenings and then drawing tight on the tapes to tighten the loops ontothe pin.

If it is desired to form a joint or a splice which is separable, nofurther steps need be taken and the joint is complete.

It may be desired to tie the bitter ends 34 and 36 of the joined orspliced tapes, and this can be accomplished in the manner shown in FIG.11 by removing the weft strands from overlapping portions of each tape,in the areas 38 and 40 removed from the joint 42, and then intertwiningthe remaining warp strands of the overlapping portions. A bar or othersuitable member 46 may be inserted between the intertwined strands tohold them in this relationship and to effectively tie the bitter ends ofthe tapes.

The pin or other means 32 which is used to hold the tape looped ends inintermeshed relationship may be cylindrical in shape or solid, and of alarge number of materials, for instance plastic or metals, the onlyrequirement being that the pin or other means used to hold the loops inintermeshed relationship have sufiicient shear and tensile strength toovercome shear loads created by the oppositely pulling loops. The shearloads are kept to a minimum by the fact that the load is spread acrossthe entire surface of the pin or like means. In this respect, to assureuniform distribution of the shear load, the surface of the pin(identified by the numeral 32) may be corrugated as shown in FIGS. and12, each corrugation 48 having a width sutficient to accommodate a loop.Corrugating the pin surface locks the loops against sliding, or lateraltransfer and bunching of the loops.

If it is desired to effect a permanent joint or splice, the joint orsplice can be simply encased or encapsulated by a moldable plastic asshown at 50, FIG. 1 The encapsulation should have the minimum thicknessnecessary to cover or encase the joint, and with such, the splicer jointis pliable but fixed. No particular shape for the encapsulation isnecessary, only that it should not be bulky or heavy. Generally theplastic used should have a high tensile strength and can actually beused to accommodate the shear loads created by the intermeshedoppositely pulling loops. In this respect the plastic preferably ismolded as shown in FIG. 11 to extend between points 52 and 54, namelybetween the overlapping contiguous portions of one tape and thecorresponding portions of the other tape, so that there is an axialtensile load through the joint. Where wear is anticipated, anelastomeric or similar plastic or wear-resistant material should beused.

It is apparent that the present invention provides a connection or asplice which is light, separable, requires a minimum of parts other thanthe tape itself, and utilizes the full strength of the tape. Also theinvention provides a joint or splice which can be readily effectedWithout the need of sewing machines, external power sources or the like.

Embodiments or variations will be known to those skilled in the art.

For instance, the invention has been described with reference to the useof a pin which extends through intermeshed loops of the tapes to bejoined, the loops tightening on the pin when tension is placed on thetape ends. An alternative way of accomplishing the same objective wouldbe to provide a flat plate-like device with rows of pins or buttonsprotruding from at least one side of the plate. The loops are thenplaced on the upstanding pins or buttons, and tension on the tape endstightens the loops on the pins or buttons. Preferably, the entireassembly would then be encapsulated within a suitable plastic.Accordingly, the invention contemplates any pin or pin-like arrangementor means which will hold the loops of the tapes to be spliced and whichwill allow the loops to be tightened thereon.

As a further example, the bar 46 disposed in the areas 38 and 40 of thetapes to effectively tie or lock the tape bitter ends, can be providedwith serrated or ribbed surfaces which keep the tape warp strandsparallel or in alignment.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments, other variations within the scope of the following claimswill be apparent to those skilled in the art,

What is claimed is:

1. A method for splicing woven tape sections wherein the tapes compriselongitudinally extending warp strands and laterally extending weftstrands interwoven therewith, comprising the steps of removing the weftstrands from an area of each tape section to be spliced, which areas arespaced from the tape section ends;

bending each tape section in said weft-free area so that portions ofeach tape section are in overlapping relationship, the warp strands ofeach tape section forming a plurality of laterally spaced side-bysidelooped strands;

twisting each said looped warp trand at least to form a first point oftwist between the strand loop and the tape section overlapping portions;

further twisting said looped strand another 180 to form a second pointof twist spaced from said first point of twist and encompassed by twoloops; bending said looped strand at the second point of twist so thatthe two loops formed thereby are in overlapping relationship defining asingle opening;

orienting the looped strands so that the single openings defined therebyare in alignment;

bringing the weft-free portions of the tape sections to be splicedtogether so that the looped strands of one of the sections intermesh andare in alignment with the looped strands of the other section;

inserting a pin means through said intermeshed looped strands;

drawing tight on said tape sections to tighten said weftfree portions onsaid pin means.

2. The method according to claim 1 further including the step ofencapsulating said looped strands and pin means in a high tensilestrength moldable plastic.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein said moldable plastic extendsbetween and encapsulates portions of the overlapping portions of bothsaid tape sections.

4. The method according to claim 2 wherein said plastic is anelastomeric material.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein said pin means is corrugatedon the surface thereof with each corrugation extending circumferentiallyaround the pin means and accommodating a looped strand.

6. A method for splicing woven tapes wherein the tapes compriselongitudinally extending warp strands and laterally extending weftstrands interwoven therewith, comprising the steps of:

removing the weft strands from an area of each tape spaced from the tapeend;

bending each tape in the weft-free area thereof to form said warpstrands into a plurality of loops;

twisting each loop intermediate the ends thereof to form a point oftwist encompassed by two loops of approximately equal size;

bending each warp strand at the point of twist to overlap said loops;

positioning the tape ends in a predetermined end-toend relationship withthe loops of one tape facing the loops of the other tape;

pr vi g a in means to eng ge each of the formed loops;

6 pulling said tape ends in opposite directions to tighten 2,300,44211/1942 Wahl 24205.l3 said loops onto said pin means. 3,136,016 6/ 1964Firing 24205.13 7. The method according to claim 6 wherein said loops3,309,790 3/1967 MacBean 2433 3,324,991 6/ 1 967 Voss 24--33 and pinmeans are encapsulated within a high tensilestrength plastic moldedaround said loops and pin means. 5

JULIUS FROME, Primary Examiner References Cited A. H. KOECKERT,Assistant Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,775,232 9/1930 Blair 24-405431,846,920 2/1932 Sundback 24-20513 10 24 33, 205.19; 29-460, 526;264-263

